snehas tūtkṛṣṭatāvāptyā mādhuryaṁ mānayan navam |
yo dhārayaty adākṣiṇyaṁ sa māna iti kīrtyate ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.96)
“Sneha which, upon having reached excellence [i.e., full manifestation], causes experience of fresh sweetness (mādhurya) and adoption of non-compliance [i.e., external crookedness or obstinacy in one’s behavior so as to conceal one’s feelings] is called māna.”
sākṣātkāra-mātrasyāpi yadyapi puruṣa-prayojanatvaṁ, tathāpi tasminn api sākṣātkāre yāvān yāvān śrī-bhagavataḥ priyatva-dharmānubhavaḥ, tāvāṁs tāvān utkarṣaḥ | nirupādhi-prīty-āspadatā-svabhāvasya priyatva-dharmānubhavaṁ vinā tu sākṣātkāro’py asākṣātkāra eva, mādhuryaṁ vinā duṣṭa-jihvayā khaṇḍasyeva | … tataḥ prema-tāratamyenaiva bhakta-mahattva-tāratamyaṁ mukhyam | … yatra tu premādhikyaṁ sākṣātkāraḥ, kaṣāyādi-rāhityādikam apy asti, sa paramo mukhyaḥ | tatraikaikāṅga-vaikalye nyūna-nyūna iti jñeyam |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 187)
“Despite only direct perception (sākṣātkāra) [of Bhagavān] being the aim (prayojana) of an embodied being, even in that respect there is [a gradation of] excellence in that direct perception in so far as there is experience of Śrī Bhagavān’s quality of being dear (priyatva). Without experience of the quality of being dear in [Bhagavān,] he who is by nature the [true, worthy] object of unconditional love (prīti) [for all living beings], however, even direct perception (sākṣātkāra) [of him] is verily non-perception (asākṣātkāra), and just like a sugar candy [tasted to be] without sweetness by a diseased tongue [i.e., as someone with jaundice does not experience the sweet taste of sugar candy even after eating the candy, so direct perception of Bhagavān without experience of his quality of being dear, that is, experience of him without prema or at least rati for him, is akin to having had no perception of him at all]. … Therefore, gradation in the greatness of bhaktas based specifically on a gradation in [their] prema is principal [i.e., is the primary means by which the relative stature of bhaktas is to be determined]. … One in whom, however, there is superiority in prema, direct perception [of Bhagavān], and the absence of impurities and so forth, is foremost. When there is deficiency in [these] aspects, one by one, there is [relative] inferiority and [further] inferiority [in the stature of a mahānta]. This is to be understood.”
bhagavān brahma kārtsnyena trir anvīkṣya manīṣayā |
tad adhyavasyat kūṭa-stho ratir ātman yato bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.34; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.567; Bhakti Sandarbha: 7, 29, 94)
“After thrice one-pointedly deliberating over the entirety of the Veda (Brahma), Bhagavān [i.e., Brahmā] determined with his discernment that because of which rati for the Ātmā [i.e., Śrī Hari] can come about.”
sac-cid-ānanda-sāndrāṅgaś cid-ānanda-ghanākṛtiḥ |
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.187)
“He whose form is dense in existence, consciousness, and bliss means he whose figure is densely constituted of consciousness and bliss.”
tad-darśanāhlāda-vidhūta-hṛdrujo
manorathāntaṁ śrutayo yathā yayuḥ |
svair uttarīyaiḥ kuca-kuṅkumāṅkitair
acīkḷpann āsanam ātma-bandhave ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.32.13)
“They whose heartache was cast away by the delight of his darśana, and who reached the end [i.e., complete fulfillment] of their desires like the Śrutis, fashioned a seat for their own bandhu with their own upper garments which were smeared with the kumkum from their breasts.”
nātha yoni-sahasreṣu yeṣu yeṣu vrajāmy aham |
teṣu teṣv acyutā bhaktir acyute’stu sadā tvayi ||
yā prītir avivekānāṁ viṣayeṣv anapāyinī |
tvām anusmarataḥ sā me hṛdayān nāpasarpatu ||
(Viṣṇu Purāṇa: 1.20.18–19; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.434–435; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 142; Bhakti Sandarbha: 217; Prīti Sandarbha: 50, 61)
“O Nātha, wherever I go in the course of thousands of births, may I always have unwavering (acyutā) bhakti to you, the unwavering Lord (Acyuta)! As I continuously remember you, may that everlasting prīti which [is possessed of a characteristic like the prīti which] the undiscerning have for objects of the senses, never slip away from my heart.”
tad evaṁ tat-kratu-nyāyena ca śuddha-bhaktānām anyā gatir nāsty eva | śrutiś ca—‘yathā kratur asmin loke puruṣo bhavati, tathetaḥ pretya bhavati’ iti, kratur atra saṅkalpa iti bhāṣyakārāḥ | śruty-antaraṁ ca—‘sa yathā-kāmo bhavati, tat kratur bhavati | yat-kratur bhavati, tat karma kurute | yat karma kurute, tad abhisampadyate’ iti | anyac ca ‘yad yathā yathopāsate tad eva bhavanti’ iti | śrī-bhagavat-pratijñā ca—‘ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham’ iti | tathaiva brahma-vaivarte—‘yadi māṁ prāptum icchanti prāpnuvanty eva nānyathā’ iti | … tāḥ prati svayam abhyupagacchati—‘saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo …’ |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 51)
“Thus, in this way, by the ‘principle of like intention’ (tat-kratu-nyāya) [i.e., the principle that the result of a sacrifice will manifest in accord with the performer’s intention], pure bhaktas verily have no other attainment (gati) [i.e., they verily attain the prīti for Bhagavān that they aspire for along with a form, paraphernalia, service, and entrance into an abode of Bhagavān that are suited to that particular type of prīti]. The Śruti also [states this in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1], ‘As is a living being’s intention (kratu) in this world, so the living being becomes upon departing from here.’ Here, [the word] ‘intention’ (kratu) means ‘resolve’ (saṅkalpa) according to the commentator [i.e., Śrī Śaṅkarācāryapāda]. Another Śruti [i.e., Bṛhadārayaṇka Upaniṣad 4.4.5] also [states this], ‘As is one’s desire, so is one’s intention. As is one’s intention, so is the action one performs, and as is the action one performs, so is that which one attains [i.e., the result].’ Elsewhere also [in Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 10.5.2.20], ‘As one worships [him], so indeed one becomes.’ Śrī Bhagavān’s vow as well [is stated in BG 4.11], ‘‘As they approach me, so exactly I reciprocate with them.’ Similarly in Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa [it is also stated by Śrī Bhagavān], ‘If they desire to attain me, they certain attain [me] and not otherwise.‘ … Śrī Bhagavān himself affirms [this principle] before them [i.e., before the gopīs] in saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo … [i.e., SB 10.22.25–26].”
te prīty-eka-puruṣārthino’pi bhāva-viśeṣeṇānyad vāñchantu na vāñchantu vā sva-sva-bhakti-jāty-anurūpā bhakti-parikarāḥ padārthāḥ saṁsāra-dhvaṁsa-pūrvakam udayanta eva |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 51)
“Whether those whose sole aim of human life is prīti desire or do not desire anything else on account of a particular bhāva [i.e., anything in addition to prīti, such as a particular type of mukti to facilitate the fulfillment of a particular desire to serve Bhagavān in a particular way], the elements supporting their bhakti and corresponding to their personal type of bhakti certainly manifest [to them] after the destruction of saṁsāra [i.e., after they are liberated from saṁsāra].”
teṣu ajāta-prītitibhiḥ sarva-puruṣārthatvena tat-prītir eva prārthanīyā |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 51)
“Prīti for him [i.e., Bhagavān] is verily to be prayed for as the foremost goal of human life by those amongst them [i.e., amongst one-pointed (ekānta) bhaktas of Bhagavān] in whom prīti has not manifested.”
ananya-mamatā viṣṇau mamatā prema-saṅgatā |
bhaktir ity ucyate bhīṣma-prahlādoddhava-nāradaiḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.382; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.2; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.23.8)
“Bhakti dedicated to Viṣṇu that is filled with mamatā [for him] and free from any other mamatā [i.e., loving attachment, lit., ‘my-ness,’ for anyone or anything else] is called prema by Bhīṣma, Prahlāda, Uddhava, and Nārada.”
